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BCS Sheep

Body condition scoring is a method to assess the amount of fat and muscle covering an animal's bones. It is done by feel along the backbone, short ribs, and eye muscle area. Scores range from 1 to 5, with 1 being very thin and 5 being obese. Higher condition scores indicate more fat, which is desirable for meat production but can become excessive. Proper nutrition management is important to maintain optimal condition.

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Ain Kamarulzaman
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12 views3 pages

BCS Sheep

Body condition scoring is a method to assess the amount of fat and muscle covering an animal's bones. It is done by feel along the backbone, short ribs, and eye muscle area. Scores range from 1 to 5, with 1 being very thin and 5 being obese. Higher condition scores indicate more fat, which is desirable for meat production but can become excessive. Proper nutrition management is important to maintain optimal condition.

Uploaded by

Ain Kamarulzaman
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© © All Rights Reserved
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BODY SCORE

*Body Score:
To assess;
- the needs to increase body weight or maintain it.
- in meat production where a particular carcase finish is desired by consumer.

How to do condition score?


-it is done by feel & accuracy improves with practice.
- Condition score measures the amount of the soft tissue (meat and fat) over the bones of the animal.
1. The animal should be standing in a relaxed position.
2. locate the last rib (the 13th). Using the balls of the fingers and thumb, try to feel the backbone with the thumb and the
end of the ribs with finger tips immediately behind the last rib. (See picture below)
3. Feel the muscle and fat cover around the ends of the short ribs and over the backbone.
- Feel the fullness of the eye muscle(see picture below) (see diagram below)
- The degree of roundness of the end of the bones, the amount of tissue between the bones and fullness of the eye
muscle determines the condition or finish of the animal the condition score.
POOR (Score 1)
Backbone: prominent & sharp
Eye Muscle: Thin; the surface tending to feel hollow
Short ribs: end are sharp & easy to press between, over & around
Causes: Poor Diet, Disease, parasitism, lactation or combination of those
Solutions: Provide better nutrition, change feeding management, assess herd health program & evaluate disease status

THIN (Score 2)
Backbone: Prominent & smooth
Short Ribs: Smooth well- rounded ends can feel between, over & around each smoothly
Eye Muscle: Reasonable depth with the surface tending to feel flat
Causes: Poor Diet, Disease, parasitism, lactation or combination of those
Solutions: Provide better nutrition, change feeding management, assess herd health program & evaluate disease status

GOOD (Score 3)
Backbone: Can be felt but smooth & rounded
Short Ribs: Ends are smooth & well covered firm pressure necessary to feel under and between short ribs
Eye Muscle: full and rounded
Causes: -
Solutions: maintain the program, maintain growth & condition

FAT (Score 4)
Backbone: Detectable with pressure on thumb
Short Ribs: Individual short ribs can only be felt with firm pressure
Eye Muscle: Full with a covering layer of fat
Causes: excess feeding & no exercise
Solutions: reduce plane of nutrition & provide exercise

OBESE (Score 5)
Backbone: Can be felt with firm pressure
Short Ribs: Cannot be felt even with firm pressure
Eye MuscleMuscle cannot be felt due to a thick layer of fat.
Causes: excess feeding & no exercise
Solutions: reduce plane of nutrition & provide exercise
Aging by Teeth
Both sheep and goats have a total of 32 teeth. They do not have any upper incisors. The dental formula for sheep and goats is as follows:

0/4 incisors, 3/3 pre-molars, 3/3 molars. The first number in each formula represents how many sets of teeth are on the upper jaw; the second
number indicates how many sets of teeth are on the lower jaw. For example, the 0/4 means that sheep/goats have no upper incisors, but have 4 sets
of lower incisors (8 lower incisors in all). Most of the time the dental formula looks like this 2 (0/4 incisors, 3/3 pre-molars, 3/3 molars) = 32.

All baby sheep and goats are born with deciduous teeth (teeth that will fall out). Deciduous teeth are much smaller than permanent teeth. The
deciduous teeth are replaced with permanent teeth as the animal ages. The following table outlines when the permanent teeth will appear or erupt:

Permanent Tooth
Eruption in Sheep This is a diagram (left) of the
Permanent Age at incisors associated with the
tooth Eruption lower jaw. These incisors are
Incisor (I1) 1-1.5 years the teeth that can easily be used
to age an animal. In this
Incisor (I2) 1.5-2 years diagram, all the incisors are
Incisor (I3) 2.5-3 years permanent teeth.
Incisor (I4) 3.5-4 years
Premolars 1.5-2 years
Molar (M1) 3 months
9-12
Molar (M2) months
Molar (M3) 1.5-2 years

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